In the safe if predictable ultra-suburbs, the last thing you’d expect is for a Medieval knight to blast forth from your wardrobe and ride his horse straight through your bedroom wall… which fades to reveal a lush forest beyond before returning to it’s normal state… but that’s exactly what happens to young Kevin (Craig Warnock).
Of course that fails to compare to the following night’s visitors… namely Randall (David Rappaport)and his diminutive band of thieves; thieves that have stolen a map of time portals from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) in the pursuit of pilfering history’s great treasures, and ol’ S.B. is none to happy about that biz… and soon Kevin finds himself tumbling through the time-stream with his new found friends!
Along the way, Kev and the lads rub elbows with the likes of Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), and King Agamemnon (Sean Connery)… the latter of which becomes a kind of surrogate father (as his real one is a bit of a complete horses’ ass), until that booty-hungry band o’ brothers interferes as they are well-known to do.
Will Kevin and the Bandits become successful thieves, or will in-fighting and the machinations of the personification of Evil (David Warner)… who desires the map to satisfy his own dark desires… put an end to their time-hopping hooliganism?!!
Coming from visionary director/Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam, 1981’s Time Bandits displays elements that would inform his following two major works namely the social commentary of 1985’s Brazil, and the dark fairy tale trappings of 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Our hero’s home life at the start of this whole affair isn’t exactly great as Kevin is all but neglected by his household gadget-obsessed parents who simply want to have their offspring be as quiet as possible as they proceed to ignore him in an eternal, toaster-centric battle of “Keeping up with the Jones'”. It’s a still-relevant commentary on the prevalence of self-centered parents… just replace kitchen gadgets with smart phones…
Of course shitty parents are the stock and trade in those aforementioned fairy tales, so it segues nicely into the meat and potatoes of this picture; namely a flight into the fantastic that manages to feature deities, historical figures, trolls, a giant, a minotaur and so much more guaranteed to enchant both adults and children… and yes, Time Bandits at it’s heart is a family film… albeit one that isn’t afraid to go extremely dark (especially when dealing with family dynamics themselves).
To bring all of that to life (on a low-budget… by Hollywood standards), Gilliam and his crew employ all manner of gorgeous practical effects that utilize multiple visual techniques such as miniatures, matte paintings, and forced perspective (to name a few), to expand the film’s universe via all manner of highly imaginative set-pieces… each impressively distinct from the others, and many displaying a breath-taking amount of artistry!
And you’ll be able to feast your eyes on all of that cinematic wonder in style, as this release is sourced from a new 4K master, and said transfer was supervised by Gilliam himself… and why on Earth would he make his film look anything other than fucking top shelf? He wouldn’t! So you get a detail-rich, color saturated beauty of a picture with this one for sure my cats n’ creeps!
The audio present here is on point as well with a solid mix that keeps everything crystal clear and in perfect balance… and while we are talkin’ audio, there is an additional audio track featuring a lively archival commentary with Gilliam, co-writer/actor/Python alum Michael Palin, Cleese (ditto on the Python), Warner, and Warnock which takes us through the film’s production in detail!
But a great picture and sound aren’t the only thing that make this release such a pleasure, as we also get a second Blu-ray disc which features everything mentioned up yonder, but also contains: a featurette exploring the film’s art design through interviews with production designer Milly Burns and costume designer James Acheson (and featuring plenty of awesome pre-production artwork), a 79 minute conversation between Gilliam and film scholar Peter von Bagh in which they discuss the director’s life and career in detail up to that point, an excerpt from an episode of NBC’s Tomorrow show from 1981 hosted by Tom Snyder as he interviews an absolutely charming and ethereal Shelly Duvall (Popeye, The Shining) about her roles in the film (she has a series of two cameos as a love-struck Medieval aristocrat, and her equally lovey-dovey ancestor who just so happens to be a passenger aboard the Titanic), a small still gallery of rare set photos, and the film’s uproarious theatrical trailer!
The package also contains a booklet containing an essay courtesy of critic David Sterritt, and a slipcase featuring that groovy lenticular animation sticker that when scratched makes you feel like Mix Master Super Dan Awesome when you’re alone, but like a total asshole when you’re caught doing it… which is every time…
But, I digress…
Simply one of the best dark fairy tale features there is; Time Bandits truly stands the test of… time… and this edition looks simply amazing! Highly Recommended!
